The Lord Is on High but Cares for the Lowly

                                     

Readings for December 23, 2012          

 Fourth Sunday of 
Advent Year C

Ir-Raba' Ħadd ta’

l-Avvent                                           

Messalin  C pp 91

Reading 1 - Michaea 5:1-4a

Thus says the LORD: You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; whose origin is from of old, from ancient times. Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne, and the rest of his kindred shall return to the children of Israel. He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD, his God; and they shall remain, for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace. This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Ewwel Qari - mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Mikea 5, 1-4a

Dan jgħid il-Mulej: "Int, Betlehem ta' Efrata, ċkejkna fost il-familji ta' Ġuda, minnek għad joħroġli dak li jkun prinċep f'Iżrael; hu għandu l-bidu tiegħu mill-qedem, sa minn dejjem ta' dejjem. Għalhek il-Mulej jitlaqhom sa meta teħles dik li hi fl-uġigħ tal-ħlas; imbagħad  il-bqija ta' ħutu jerġgħu lura fost ulied Iżrael. U hu joqgħod jirgħa l-merħla tiegħu bil-qawwa tal-Mulej, bil-glorja ta' isem il-Mulej, Alla tiegħu. U huma jgħammru fiż-żgur, għax issa tkun kbira setgħetu, sa trufijiet l-art. U dan ikun is-sliem!" Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19.

            R. (4) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
from your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power,
and come to save us.                                                     R/

Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.               R/

May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.            R/

Salm Responsorjali       -  Salm 79(80)

            R/   Mulej, ifta fuqna d-dija ta' wiċċek, u nkunu salvi.

O Ragħaj ta' Iżrael, agħti widen,

int li qiegħed fuq il-kerubini, iddi.

Qajjem il-qawwa tiegħek,

u ejja ħa ssalvana.                                            R/

Erġa' ejja, Alla tal-eżerċti;

ħares mis-sema,  u ara,

u żur 'il din id-dielja.

Ħu ħsieb dak li ħawlet lemintek,

ir-rimja li int kabbart għalik.                              R/

Ħa tkun idek fuq il-bniedem ta' lemintek,

fuq il-bniedem li int saħħaħt għalik.

Aħna ma nitbegħdux minnek;

roddilna l-ħajja, u aħna nsejħu ismek.                 R/

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Reading 2 - Hebrews 10:5-10

Brothers and sisters: When Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight. Then I said, 'As is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God.'" First he says, "Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in." These are offered according to the law. Then he says, "Behold, I come to do your will." He takes away the first to establish the second. By this "will," we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. This is the Word of The Lord.

It-Tieni Qari-  mill-Ittra lil Lhud 10, 5-10

Ħuti:   Kristu meta daħal fid-dinja qal: "Sagrifiċċju u offerta int ma ridtx, imma ġisem int ħejjejt għalija; vittmi maħruqa u vittmi għad-dnubiet lilek ma għoġbukx. Jien imbagħad għedt:  "Hawn jien, ġejt biex nagħmel ir-rieda tiegħek, O Alla, kif fil-ktieb hemm miktub fuqi." L-ewwel qal:  "Sagrifiċċji u offerti, vittmi maħruqa u  vittmi għad-dnubiet,   la ridthom u lanqas għoġbuk", għalkemm dawn titlobhom il-Liġi. Imbagħad qal:  "Hawn jien, ġejt biex  nagħmel ir-rieda tiegħek". B'hekk Alla neħħa s-sagrifiċċji tal-ewwel biex  iqiegħed flokhom tat-tieni. Bis-saħħa ta' din ir-rieda aħna  konna mqaddsin, permezz tal-offerta tal-ġisem ta' Ġesu' Kristu magħmula għal dejjem. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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Gospel - Luke 1:39-45

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."  This is the Word of The Lord. 

 L-Evanġelju - skond San Luqa 1, 39-45

F'dawk  il-ġranet Marija qamet u marret tħaffef lejn l-għoljiet, f'belt tal-Lhudija. Daħlet għand Zakkarija u sellmet lil Eliżabetta. Malli Eliżabetta semgħet lil Marija ssellmilha, it-tarbija qabżet fil-ġuf tagħha u Eliżabetta mtliet bl-Ispirtu s-Santu: u nfexxet f'għajta kbira u qalet: "Imbierka inti fost in-nisa, u mbierek il-frott tal-ġuf tiegħek! U minn fejn ġieni dan li omm il-Mulej tiegħi tiġi għandi? Għax ara, malli smajt f'widnejja leħen it-tislima tiegħek, it-tarbija li għandi fil-ġuf qabżet bil-ferħ. Iva, ħiena dik li emmnet li jseħħ kulma bagħat igħidilha l-Mulej." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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COMMENTARY

Father Cantalamessa on Fourth Sunday of Advent

Here is a translation of a commentary by the Pontifical Household preacher, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, on this Sunday's liturgical readings.

He has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness

The last Sunday of Advent is the one that must prepare us immediately for Christmas. By now we should be done with our shopping and be more open to also think about the religious meaning of this festive time.

Today's Gospel is the one that recounts Mary's visit to Elizabeth, which ends with the Magnificat: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness."

With the Magnificat Mary helps us to take in an important aspect of the Christmas mystery on which I would like to insist: Christmas as the feast of the lowly and as the ransoming of the poor.

Mary says: "He has cast down the powerful from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty."

In today's world there are two new emerging social classes which are no longer the ones we knew in the past. On one hand, there is the cosmopolitan society that knows English, that moves easily in the airports of the world, that knows how to use computers and to "navigate" the internet. For this group the world is already a "global village."    

On the other hand, there is the great mass of those who have just left the country of their birth and have limited and only indirect access to the great means of social communication. It is these two groups which today are, respectively, the new "powerful" and the new "lowly."

Mary helps us to put things right again and to not let ourselves be deceived. She tells us that often the deepest values are hidden among the lowly; that the more decisive events in history (such as the birth of Jesus), takes place among the lowly and not on the world's great stages.

Today's first reading tells us that Bethlehem was "a little one among the towns of Judea," and yet in her the Messiah was born. Great writers, like Manzoni and Dostoyevsky, have immortalized, in their works, the values and stories of the "lower class."

The "preferential option" for the poor was something that God decided on well before the Second Vatican Council. Scripture says that "the Lord is on high but cares for the lowly" (Psalm 138:6); he "resists the proud but gives his grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5).

In revelation God continually appears as one who pays attention to the wretched, the afflicted, the abandoned and those who are nothing in the eyes of the world. All of this contains a lesson that is extremely relevant for us today. Our temptation is to do exactly the opposite of what God does: to want to look to those who are on top, not at those who are on the bottom; to those who are prosperous, not to those who are in need.

We cannot be content just remembering that God considers the lowly. We ourselves must become little, humble, at least in our hearts.
The Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem has only one entrance, and you cannot pass through it without bending down. Some have said that it was built this way so that the Bedouins could not enter seated on their camels. But there is another explanation that has always been given, and which, in any case, contains a deep spiritual truth. This door is supposed to remind pilgrims that in order to penetrate the deep meaning of Christmas it is necessary to humble oneself and become little.

In the days that follow we will hear our old Italian carol sung: "Tu scendi dalle stelle, o re del cielo…" (You descend from the starry skies, O King of heaven…). But if God has descended "from the starry skies," should we not also come down from our pedestals of superiority and power and live together as brothers reconciled?

We too must climb down from the camels to enter into the stable of Bethlehem.